How to Add Subtitles to Video YouTube for Free

Make your video for people with hearing impairment or who can't hear easily

Make it easier to understand if it's an instructional video

Provide the opportunity to translate your video into any language

Adding subtitles to a video is very friendly to users. It's not only a necessity for foreign viewers but also can be very helpful for those who speak the same language as you. There are many different ways to add subtitles to video. In this article, we will give you detailed guides to add captions to your videos, such as YouTube videos using EaseUS Video Editor, VLC media player, iMovie, and online tool to improve the effectiveness of your videos.

How to Add Subtitles to Video with EaseUS Video Editor for Free

To add subtitles to a video, perhaps the easiest way is to use a handy and professional video editor. EaseUS Video Editor enables you to permanently embed subtitles in your video as well as set their display duration, the fonts, and colors used, and the size of the text. EaseUS Video Editor provides more than 40 static and animated caption styles; you can add an extra dimension to your video by calling attention to the most important elements in your video or movie.

If you want to add subtitles to a YouTube video, you can use this software to help you do the job. When it finishes, you can directly upload your video to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Except for adding captions to video, other stunning features of EaseUS Video Editor are listed below.

Launch EaseUS Video Editor. On the home screen, you can import the source video files by either clicking the "Import" option or simply dragging the videos to the appropriate area.

You need to add the imported files to the video track by choosing the "Add to Project" option, or you can drag and place the video to the track as you want.

Step 2. Add and customize subtitles

Click the "Text" button and go to the "Subtitle" tab to preview the provided text style. Choose the one you like and add it to the text track. You can control subtitles' display duration, set the start of the subtitles, or add closed captions.

Then double click the text box to enter your words or change the font, size, and color of your texts. After you complete, click the "OK" button.

Step 3. Export video with subtitles

After adding subtitles to video clips, you can click the "Export" on the toolbar to export video with texts. Under the "Video" tab, choose a file format for the edited video. You can also edit the file name, customize an output folder and settings, and then click "Export" to finish the process.

How to Add Subtitles to a YouTube Video

To create and add captions to your YouTube videos, there are other ways available in addition to applying EaseUS Video Editor. The quickest way is to upload a pre-made file with subtitles that you’ve already created. Save your file in a YouTube-compatible format, such as SubRip, SubViewer, MPsub, or LPC, and then upload it to your video. You can also add texts to your video using the following way.

Step 2. Click "add new subtitles" and then choose the language for your subtitles.

Step 3. Click "Transcribe and the auto-sync" tab. Add the text of the video in the blank space.

Step 4. Click "Set Timing". Set the timing for the best results based on the length of the video. Now, move the subtitles to the timeline and edit it as you need.

Adding subtitles, titles, or descriptions to your YouTube video also can be done by the viewers as long as you’ve turned on the Community contributions functions on your channel. How to do it? See the steps below.

Step 1. Go to the "Channel" tab and choose "Upload defaults".

Step 2. Check the "Community contributions" option.

Step 3. Or you can also go to the "Translations and Transcriptions" tab and turn on Community contributions for the videos you want to add subtitles. Choose your preferred language and click "Yes".

How to Add Captions to Video Using VLC Media Player

If you want to create a video with hard subtitles, namely permanently add subtitles to video, you’ll need to encode them into the video. To do this, you can resort to the VLC media player for help. It’s another free app that’s packed with various video editing features for Windows and Mac, such as converting, merging, splitting, and more.

To add captions to video using VLC, you need to first create a subtitle file in.srt format. After this, do as the following steps say.

Step 1. Open VLC Player. Select "Media > Open File" from the top menu bar, choose the video file you want to add subtitles and select "Open."

As you see, it's very complicated to create a subtitle file in this way. So we highly recommend you try the easier way to add captions to video using a professional video editor.

How to Add Captions to Video with iMovie on Mac

Speaking of video editors for Mac and iOS devices, iMovie should be well-known. With this tool, you can enjoy your videos like never before. You can add studio-quality titles, add extra-special effects and high-fidelity filters, and so on.

iMovie does not currently provide a feature dedicated specifically to adding subtitles, but it still enables you to add captions to a movie using different styles of titles. And you can adjust the font size, font color, and caption positioning, transitions, and timings for a video or movie. Now, follow steps below to use the Title Overlay feature to add captions to video using iMovie.

Step 1. Open iMovie and choose "New project". Import your video and drag it to the filmstrip area.

Step 2. Click on "Titles", select a title style, and apply it. Then, choose the style called "Lower".

Step 3. Enter text for your titles. To change the font style of the subtitles, you can go to "Show Fonts" > "Change Fonts" to change the font color, style, size, face, etc.

Step 4. If you want to change the duration of your iMovie subtitles, you can double-click on the title clip and change the duration in the Inspector or just drag the slider in the project to change its position and duration.

Step 5. After adding all the captions, you can share the video and send it to the iMovie Theatre, iTunes, Facebook, YouTube, or Vimeo.

How to Add Subtitles to Video Online

If your video doesn't have privacy issues, you may add subtitles to video using an online tool. VEED (https://www.veed.io/add-subtitles-video) is one of the best subtitle video apps online. You can add your subtitles automatically with an auto-generated subtitle tool, add them manually, and also via uploading a subtitle file. You can subtitle any popular video file such as MOV, MP4 AVI, and more with designed subtitle styles in three steps.

Step 1. Upload the video you would like to add subtitles. And the editor will open.

Step 2. Click "Subtitles" on the left side panel, and choose from the following options: Auto Subtitles, Manual Subtitles, or Upload Subtitle File.

Step 3. Once you have now added and styled your video, just hit download, and your video will start rendering.

Choose the Simplest Way to Add Subtitles to Video for Free

After reading this tutorial, you can learn a few different ways to add subtitles to video free or add captions to a YouTube video. To add subtitles to a video on Windows, you can use EaseUS Video Editor, VLC media player, and online tool. If you want to add captions to a video on Mac, iMovie is a great program to help you.

If there is any problem when using EaseUS Video Editor, feel free to contact our technical support team via email or live chat.